Messiah College Students Involved in Local Government

On Tuesday January 3, Representative Stephen Bloom announced his campaign for re-election to the State House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 199th District.  According to a news release, during his first two-year term, Bloom said, "we've cut more than $1 billion in state spending, eliminated more than 1,000 bureaucrats from state government, and purged more than 100,000 cheaters from the welfare rolls, but that's just a good start. There is so much more to do."

Two Messiah College students, Derek Petrella '12 and Phil Strunk '14, as well as recent graduate Evan Pittsley '11, are a part of Bloom's campaign team.  Petrella and Pittsley are Bloom's campaign managers, while Strunk is Bloom's field director.

After being approached by Petrella and Pittsley to help with Bloom's campaign, Strunk accepted the position of field director.  In this position, he said, he helps to get volunteers for the campaign, trains them, and oversees the signing of petitions to get Bloom's name on the ballot.

"He's all about cutting government size, taxes, and fostering freedom," said Strunk.  "He is also very involved with his constituents."

Strunk said Bloom is a unique candidate in that he likes to take a one-on-one approach while still using tools like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to his constituents.  Strunk also said that Bloom loves college students.  This is evident when one considers that one of his campaign managers is a college student and another is a recently-graduated alumnus, and he also has a college student as a field director.

"[Bloom] makes sure everybody has their voices heard," concluded Strunk.

The 2012 primary election will take place on April 24, and the general election will take place on November 6.  For more information about Representative Stephen Bloom, visit http://stephenlbloom.com/.